You know the world is somber place right now. A global pandemic is spreading, unemployment is growing. Where. is. the. good. news. If you are a second year MBA student either with a job offer or still job hunting, what do you do?
I graduated in 2008 in the midst of the last recession and remember the fear. While times are not exactly the same, here are some tips that I hope will help you get through these tough times.
if you’re still looking or are worried that your standing offer may be rescinded, here’s some advice.
Companies hiring right now:
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Not all companies are being negatively impacted by Coronavirus. There are several industries where sales are booming. The Boston Globe and NPR did a good overview of companies and industries experiencing growth right now. A few of note:
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- CPG & Grocery Retail, e.g., Walmart, Mondelez, Instacart.
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Healthcare: Pharmaceuticals and Telemedicine, e.g., CVS, Amwell.
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Robotics, e.g., Diligent Robotics which just raised a series A.
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Online conferencing- Zoom, RingCentral (Zoom memes are also great)
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Turnaround consultants – there is huge demand for firms like Meru right now. Happy to make an intro!
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Many of these companies are overwhelmed right now. If you can find a way to solve a problem they are currently experiencing (with minimal supervision), you could be well positioned for getting hired when things settle down. For example, grocery stores are desperate to hire right now. If you wanted to work in a strategic HR role, you could compile a list of local restaurants that are currently laying off workers as a place for grocery chains to recruit from. If you wanted to work for an Online Education platform, you could identify resources to help displaced students get better access to Wifi (some school districts are loaning out Chrome Books!). My employer which provides healthy school lunch to public schools (primarily charters) is scrambling to provide community meals across the country. We could use help identifying all the community feeding resources across the country.
If you have a signed offer here are a few things to consider. In 2008 and 2009, financial services firms (e.g., Goldman and Lehman – the latter for obvious reasons) did rescind offers. In a silver lining, I am not aware of any large consulting firm that did NOT honor an offer in 2008 and 2009. However, many did push back start dates 3 to 6 months (sometimes with a stipend if you went to work for a non-profit). If this is you, here are a few things you can do to manage through the uncertainty:
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Opt for a less expensive apartment or postpone signing a lease.
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Maintain an emergency fund or a 3-month cash buffer that you could live off of if in a worst case scenario you had to return to the job hunt.
If you don’t have a job at graduation, don’t panic.
Here’s what to do if you don’t have a job at graduation:
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Consider using Catalant to find a short-term project that could turn into something long-term OR give you experience while the job market rebounds.
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Be creative about cutting your expenses (live with family, have multiple roommates, etc.) and take a lower paying job to build experience. Your first job out of business school is not where you will retire. Think about where you want to be in 5 to 10 years. As long as your first job is helping you build to that goal, it’s a win.
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Start your own company. The opportunity cost is lower right now and so are interest rates. Here are some stories of companies that were started in the last recession.
I hope this helped address some of your concerns right now. While times are scary, keep your chin up. Finally, if these times are motivating you to want to take more control of your money overall, check out my first money course.
A social distance hug,
Eryn